The 300-million deal is backed by 97% of all Newcastle fans, who hope that having a wealthy investor behind them will help make then a top six club, but there are still major regulatory concerns.
Chief amongst them are who will actually be in charge of the club.
The public face of the deal is British financier Amanda Staveley, but it is the fact that 80% of the money will come from the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth Public Investment Fund (PIF) that is problematic. Now investigators are trying to ascertain the precise links between PIF and the ruling Saudi family.
Infringements of TV rights in Saudi Arabia has been a major issue for the Premier League for some time, and the Saudi government has been accused by both FIFA and UEFA for supporting a pirate service that illegally streamed football matches in the country. That followed a ruling by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that the Saudi state had failed to deal with the intellectual property theft by the pirate beoutQ service.
In response to that, Saudi Arabia banned Qatar-based beIN Sports, which was the only previous legal way to watch Premier League and European football in the sports-mad country, meaning that Saudi consumers have no way at present of getting access to games without breaking the law in their own country.
The other major issue that dogs the deal is human rights. Those who argue that Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights makes the consortium an unsuitable vehicle to be a major partner to a Premier League club have been very vocal in their opposition, and have promised to publicly demonstrate if the deal is allowed to proceed.
They include the fiance of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Meanwhile, there is another investor waiting in the wings if the current bid is turned down American businessman has offered 350 million for the club.
There are many people who believe that it would be better all-round if current owner Mike Ashley would just sell the club to him to avoid all the current issues and wrangling.